Effects of spatial distance on consumers' review effort

Abstract

Spatial distance is crucial for understanding consumers' decisions and behavior. However, research has not addressed how the spatial distance between consumers and hotels influences online review generation. Based on online hotel review data from TripAdvisor, this study illustrates a positive relationship between spatial distance and consumers' review effort, while the marginal effect of spatial distance on review effort declines. Moreover, temporal distance and cultural distance negatively affect review effort and mitigate the effect of spatial distance. Specifically, distant consumers tend to exhibit less effort when writing reviews after a longer post-consumption interval and when having a greater cultural distance. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.